Exercise KM 15-3 is a four-month international exercise
allowing participants from the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast
Guard (USCG) to work with host nation participants from various countries in
the Pacific Island Nations of Oceania.

The first portion of the exercise was in Tahiti, followed by
a leg in Fiji, where Marines conducted theater security cooperation (TSC)
activities with host nation partners.

After Tarawa, the Lewis and Clark, which is also part of
Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadron (MPSRON) 2, will carry her personnel and
cargo to Vanuatu for more TSC events, then finish off the exercise in Timor
Leste in November. The Lewis and Clark is scheduled to return to its homeport
in early December.

While training in Tarawa, the Marines will conduct
military-to-law enforcement activities with local police. Members of the Navy
and Coast Guard will participate in Oceanic Maritime Security Initiative (OMSI)
operations, as they did in Fiji, in support of maritime law enforcement operations
along with partners from the Police Maritime Unit Tarawa.

"While the Marines are training on the island with the
host nation military or law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Coast Guard has
taken this opportunity to use USNS Lewis and Clark, which is the platform for
KOA MOANA 15-3, to conduct OMSI patrols with the nations these TSCs have been
scheduled," said Navy Capt. Paul D. Hugill, commodore, MPSRON-2.

OMSI is a Secretary of Defense program aimed to diminish
transnational illegal activity on the high seas in the Pacific Island Nations
of Oceania's exclusive economic zones (EEZ) and enhance regional security and
interoperability with partner nations.

The Coast Guard is responsible for patrolling the waters
around the numerous islands associated with the U.S. throughout the region.
Each of these islands has territorial waters stretching out to 12 miles from
shore. Beyond that, stretching out 200 nautical miles are EEZs, an area defined
by international law that allows each nation exclusive rights to the
exploration and use of marine resources.

During the OMSI portion of KM 15-3, law enforcement agents
from the Police Maritime Unit Tarawa, and Navy and Coast Guard personnel, will
ride the Lewis and Clark and intercept and board commercial fishing vessels
operating inside the Kiribati EEZ. The combined team will be looking for
potential violations.

According to Taraa Teekea, vessel monitor system officer for
Police Maritime Unit Tarawa, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing has a
significant negative effect on Kiribati's economy.

Outside of KOA MOANA, the Police Maritime Unit Tarawa
conducts their own operations about six to eight times a year. Their missions
are typically 10 days at-sea, with boarding an average of 30 suspected fishing
boats during each operation.

"We are looking for those who are conducting illegal
fishing," said Teekea. "Some of the common violations are invalid
fishing license, no license to transit through our EEZ, over-fishing certain
types of fish, and vessels with no [EEZ] entry and exit reports."

The OMSI memorandum of understanding between the Department
of Defense (DoD), the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration helps to deter and prevent various threats to maritime security
and transnational crime, encourage mutually beneficial partnerships with
Pacific Island Nations, promote interoperability, enhance maritime domain
awareness and improve economic stability throughout Oceania.

According to USCG Lt. Lisa M. Hatland, OMSI liaison, U.S.
Coast Guard District 14 out of Honolulu and on board the Lewis and Clark for KM
15-3, since the Coast Guard doesn't have all the assets it requires in order to
patrol this region as often as they would like or to enact all the bilateral
ship rider's agreements that they have with partner nations, the [memorandum of
understanding] (MOU) with the Navy allows them to use naval vessels.

"Through OMSI, the Coast Guard exacts an MOU with the
DoD in order to supplement Coast Guard cutter deployments with naval assets
that are transiting across Oceania," the lieutenant added. "The MOU
allows us to put Coast Guard boarding teams on board DoD ships to conduct Coast
Guard missions, and it also permits us to embark foreign maritime law
enforcement agents so they can enforce laws in their own sovereign
waters."

Initiatives like OMSI help the U.S. to project a maritime
law enforcement presence beyond what the U.S. Coast Guard can do alone.

KOA MOANA also serves as a test for the Lewis and Clark on
how well cargo and ammunition ship platforms will perform in this type of
mission. The exercise is the first time a dry cargo and ammunition ship is
being used for a Coast Guard mission.

"The Lewis and Clark is performing well. During KOA
MOANA, we're doing everything that a [US combatant ship] can do with regards to
command and control," said Hugill. "The reasons the Lewis and Clark
is a good platform are the abundance of space, the capabilities of the deck
crew and the ability to carry out around the clock operations."

Commander, Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron 2,
currently embarked aboard USNS Lewis and Clark and operating in the Southern
Eastern Pacific, maintains tactical control of the 10 ships that are forward
deployed to Diego Garcia and carrying afloat prepositioned U.S. military cargo
for the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force. The squadron's
mission is to enable the force from the sea by providing swift and effective
transportation of vital equipment and supplies for designated operations.

MSC operates approximately 115 non-combatant,
civilian-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships, conduct specialized
missions, strategically preposition combat cargo at-sea around the world and
move military cargo and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces and coalition
partners.

Exercise KOA MOANA 15-3 is a Marine Forces Pacific-sponsored
exercise designed to enhance senior military leader engagements between allied
and partner nations with a collective interest in military-to-military
relations, and to discuss key aspects of military operations, capability
development and interoperability.